Moving object automatic operation system

ABSTRACT

A moving object automatic operation system wherein moving objects travelling along a route are operated automatically in accordance with the data derived from the signal detected by an antenna aboard the moving object which is coupled with the alternating magnetic field produced along a leaky coaxial cable, together with a predetermined location speed operation curve for each section of the route.

Elite States Babe et a1.

[ Oct, 16, 1973 MOVING OBJECT AUTOMATIC OPERATION SYSTEM [75] Inventors: Takeshi Baba, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo;

Tadao Yaku, Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Hisao Nakaiima, Musashino City, Tokyo; Toshihiko Kishimoto, Nakano-ku, Tokyo; Kenichi Yoshida, Konohana-ku, Osaka, all of Japan [73] Assignees: Japanese National Railways, Tokyo;

Sumiton 1 o 1i1eciri c@dustries, Ltd, Osaka both of Japan [22] Filed: June 3, I971 [21] App]. No.: 149,554

[52] US. Cl. 246/63 C, 246/30, 333/97 R,

343/771 [51] Int. Cl B611 27/04 [58] Field of Search 246/30, 29 R, 8,

246/63 C, 187 B, 182 R, 182 C; 179/82; 340/23, 47; 333/97 R, 84 L; 343/771, 770

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,629,707 12/1971 Baba et al 246/30 ANTENNA) DEMw L4m1 w FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 467,690 3/ 1969 Switzerland 246/182 13 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Baba, et al., Leaky Coaxial Cable with Slot Array, Advanced Abstract 1968 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, p. 253.

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-George H. Libman Att0mey-Carothers & Carothers 57 ABSTRACT A moving object automatic operation system wherein moving objects travelling along a route are operated automatically in accordance with the data derived from the signal detected by an antenna aboard the moving object which is coupled with the alternating magnetic field produced along a leaky coaxial cable, together with a predetermined location speed opera tion curve for each section of the route.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures /NTEGKA me 2 (UP/W4 me Com/neat 7/1969 Smith, Jr 246/187 R MOVING OBJECT AUTOMATIC OPERATION SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a moving object automatic operation system.

2. Description of the Prior Art For an automatic moving object operation control, it has been heretofore known that the number of revolutions of the wheel may be counted and the travelling distance and speed derived from said count data.

In such a system however, spurious revolutions due to slipping of the wheels and/or diameter change due to wear on the wheels cause integrated error in the information used for the operation control. Accordingly, the accurate operation control of the moving object can not be expected. Another automatic vehicle control system is disclosed by US. Pat. No. 3029893, whereby two wires are embedded under the surface of the route and are periodically crossed for the transmission of guidance signals. As this system has the transmission line embedded under the road way, it suffers from interference from rain and snow and the transmission characteristics are further greatly affected by the transmission impedance disturbance created by the occupancy of the moving objects on the road way. Consequently, a stable automatic operation with high reliability cannot be expected.

Another similar known system is disclosed by US. Pat. No. 3,327,111. In this system, a special purpose transmission line made of three conductors and two different frequency signal sources are provided.

This system has a disadvantage in that the transmis- SUMMARY or THE INVENTION coaxial cable laid along a vehicle track illustrating the present invention.

FIGS. 2 (a) and (b) are perspective views of illustrative sections of different examples of leaky coaxial cables may be for the system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a drawing superimposed over a coaxial cable of the type useable in the system of the present invention showing the electric fields appearing at the slots and vectorially divided in two directions.

FIG. 4, graphically illustrates the electro-magnetic fields appearing at the slots along a coaxialcable used in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 graphically illustrates an alternating magnetic fields produced along the coaxial cable used in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of the automatic operation system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 graphically illustrates a curve for a locationspeed operation curve of a section of the track for the system of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The moving object automatic operation system according to the present invention will be explained by referring to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows one coaxial transmission line used .for the automatic operation of moving objectsaccording to this invention. The line is installed along the vehicle track.

. In FIG. 1, (1) denotes the central conductor of the line, (2) its outer conductor, and (3) and (3') indicate the inclined slots which are reversed as to physical layout one to the next in said outer-conductor at a constant center to center interval S, i.e., their inclination is alternately reversed. That is to say, the'leaky coaxial cable shown in FIG. 1 is a coaxial cable having an outer conductor in which a large number of slots are cyclically positioned in such-a manner that adjacent slots are symmetrical with respect to a midway plane between them and positioned normal to the-axis of the coaxial cable. The slots arealso regulated such that the projections of the center lineof any of said slots on a The present invention basically provides'a leaky coaxial cable having many slots which are arranged in the outer conductor and which produce alternately reverse polirized magnetic fields. The cable is laid along the route of a moving object and transmits an electric current having a wave length sufficiently longer than the interval of adjacent slots in the waveguide. An antenna coupling with the alternating magnetic field is'also provided.

When a moving object travels along the route, the antenna of the moving object couples with the alternating magnetic fields having the same period as the slot inter val of the cable,'so that it can detect the distance travelled by-countingthe periodicity, and the speed of the moving object by the ratio between the travelling distance and it can detect time. 1 I 1 The moving object is able to" be operated automatically by a data processing and controlling device in accordance with said detected information and used in combination with a predetermined location speed operation curve of the section where the moving object travels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an illustrative perspective view of the leaky plane parallel to the axis andon said midwayplane are finite.

Modifications of the coaxial cables as shown in FIG. 1 are illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the same numerals as the numerals of FIG. 1 show the samepar't in FIG. 1. If an electromagnetic wave having-a wavelength sufficiently longer than the distance S between said adjacent slots is caused to flow in'the se coaxial cables, elecsaid slots as shown in FIG. 3. If theseelectric fields are 'by said electric fields (6) and (6') also appear alter.-

nately slot by slot. An antennacoil (8) is arranged and fixed so as to receive the magnetic field components in the axial directionof the transmission. line and is installed aboard a train travelling along a coaxial cable.

The alternating magnetic fields, which are reversed at every adjacent slots, are received by the antenna of the moving object when it travels along the track. The received signal is intense at the portions along the cable where slots are present and is scarcely received at the portions therealong where the slots are not present. Accordingly, the wave form of the received signal has a periodicity which is the same pitch as the fixed interval S between adjacent slots, as shown in FIG. 5. By counting the number of these pulses of the received signal on board the moving object, it is possible to determine the travelling distance of the moving object on the basis of the fixed distance S and to determine its location from a given starting point. It is also possible to determine the speed of the moving object from the ratio between the travelling distance and time elapsed. Moreover, it is possible also to determine the acceleration. In this case, the accurate determination of the location is dependent upon accurately counting the number of the distances S between slots which have passed such that in turn the accuracy of location and speed detections also depends on the accuracy of the measured length along the coaxial made up of multiples of the interval S.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a data processing and control device of the moving object automatic operation system according to this invention. FIG. 7 shows a speed-location operation curve for a predetermined section, for example, a section between two adjacent stations previously memorized in a device aboard the train or in a data processing device on the ground. In FIG. 6, (8) denotes an antenna aboard the train which makes induction coupling with the coaxial cable with zigzag slots as previously described. Usually a coil with a ferrite core is used. (9) denotes a demodulator which demodulates the signal received by the antenna (8) and converts the level changes of the received signal into a pulse series. (10) denotes a calculating circuit which counts said pulse series over a given period of time and thereby calculates the speed, the speed V being given by V NS, where N is the number of pulses in a unit time and S the distance between slots. (11) denotes a integration circuit which integrates the number of pulses and thereby calculates the location of the train on a section. (12) denotes a memory circuit which memorizes or retains the location-speed curves for each particular section along the track as shown in FIG. 7 In other words, the memory device electrically memorizes the operation pattern of each train to be followed in terms of a function representing the desired relationship between the location and speed of the train for each particular different section of track, as between stations of different spacings-(13) denotes a comparing and control circuit which compares the 10- cation-speed operation curve ascribed to a particular section by the memory circuit where the moving object travels with the actual detected data of the location and speed of the moving object as determined by calculator l0 and integrator 11.

The comparing and control circuit electronically compares the stored operation pattern function with the actual operation pattern and detects the deviation from the standard memorized pattern, thereby issuing signals for acceleration or deceleration as required to make the vehicle movement conform to the prescribed pattern throughout the given section of travel. Each of the block elements in FIG. 6 are considered to be obvious to design by application of standard electrical engineering principals of logic circuit design once one has been informed of the function to be performed by each circuit.

The data processing and control device may be installed aboard each moving object, or by another way may, be installed at a central ground station. When the data processing and control device is provided at a ground station, it is necessary to prepare a data transmission system sending the received signal of the antenna to the central ground station.

If a zigzag slot coaxial cable is installed on the ground as shown in FIG. 1 and an apparatus as explained by FIG. 6 is installed aboard a train as mentioned above, then it is possible to control the operation of the train automatically at a fixed position. In this case, the required accuracy of the operation control is determined by the interval S between the slots of the coaxial cable. The accuracy of the control can be enhanced directly by enhancing the accuracy of the slot intervals of the coaxial cable which is determined by the manufacturing thereof. The accuracy of the control of this system does not change according to not only the timing factor but also other factors.

The apparatus detecting the speed and the travelling distance is very simple and is not interfered with by outer conditions, for example, weather conditions and others.

According to this invention, a single leaky coaxial cable is not only used for moving object operation control, but is also used for the vehicle communication at the same time.

Consequently, the system of the present invents is very stable, reliable and economical when compared with the conventional systems.

What we claim is:

1. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots in its outer conductor such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the coaxial cable and the projections of the center line of any of the slots on a plane parallel to the axis and on said midway plane are finite, a coupling coil installed aboard a moving object on said track and which couples electromagnetically with said coaxial cable, a data processing and controlling device provided on 'the moving object which receives signals from said coupling coil and controls the moving object by comparing a predetermined location-speed operation curve ascribedto the section of said track over which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object received by way of said coupling coil.

2. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots in its outer conductor such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the coaxial cable and the projections of the center line of any of said slots on a plane parallel to the axis and said midway plane are finite, said coaxial cable transmitting an electromagnetic current having a wavelength sufficiently long as compared to the slot interval of said coaxial cable, an antenna coil installed aboard a moving object on said track which couples with the alternating magnetic fields produced by the slots of said cable, and a data processing and controlling device provided on said moving object; said data processing and controlling device having means for counting the number of level changes in the signal received by the antenna, means for detecting the location and speed of the moving object from the data of the counter number, means for memorizing a predetermined location-speed operation curve ascribed to each section of said track to be controlled and comparing controlling means which controls the moving object by comparing the locationspeed operation curve ascribed to the section of track over which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object.

3. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the coaxial cable and the projections of the center line of any of the slots on a plane parallel to the axis and said midway plane normal to the axis are finite, a coupling coil installed aboard said moving object and which couples electromagnetically with said coaxial cable, and a data processing and controlling means provided at a central ground station which controls at least one moving object on said track by comparing a location-speed operation curve ascribed to a section of said track on which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object received by way of said coupling coil.

4. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots with a constant slot interval such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the cable and the projections of the center line of any of the slots on mission device connected to said coaxial cable for sending the signal received by said antenna to a central ground station, and a data processing and control device provided at said ground station; said data processing and controlling device having means for counting the number of level changes of the signal received by the antenna, means for detecting location and speed of the moving object from the data of the counted number, means for memorizing a location-speed operation for each section of said track to becontrolled and comparing controlling means which controls the moving object by comparing the locationspeed operation curve ascribed to the section of track over which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object.

EMT-FED amiss PATENT QEFHIE CERTEFIQATEE @QRRECTlGN Patent No. 3,766 ,3'i8 "Dated Oc'i-nner 16 10-12 Takeshi Bahia Ciadaa Yaku, Hisao Nakajima, Toshihiko Kiehimnho and Keniehi Yoshida It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Title Page, between Entries [21] and [52] insert "Foreign Application Pricarity Data Japanese Implication No, 5-l3l8/l970 filed, June l2, 1970 Cele 4, claim l lies 45 after insert -each of said slots further having a slot configuration which is other than a symmetrical reversal mirror image of itself with respect to both a plane a transverse to and a plane parallel with said cable axis with both planes passing through the center of the slot configuration claim 2;, line 63 before "said" insert --on--; 'line 64, after insert --=each of said slots furtherhavinga slotcohfigu'ration which is other than a symmetrical reversal mirror image of itself with respect he both a plane transverse to and a. plane parallel vwith said cable axis with both plane-s passing through the center of the slot configuration,-- 4

Col. 5, claim 3, line 22, before "said" insert --on-;

line 24, after insert -=-each of said slots further having a slot configuration whichis other than a symmetrical reversal mirror image of itself with respect to both a plane transverse to and a plane parallel with said cable axis with both planes passing through the center of the slot configuration Col. 6, claim4, line '9 before "said insert --on- FORM PO-IOSO (10-69) usco -pc uay e-p59 w u.s. sovsmmsm' PRINTING oFrlc: no! o-sse-au.

PRINTER'S TRIMI.

CERTEFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,766,378 Dated October 16, 1973 Takeshi Baba et a1 Page 2 Inventor(s) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 6,v line 10, claim 4, after "1" insert the following:

I i I i each oi said slots further having a slot configuration which is other than asymmetrical reversal mirror image of itself 1 Wit h respect to both a plane transverse to and -a flame parallel with said cable axis faith both planes -pa ssil g through the center of the'slo't configuration,

Signed and sealed this 19th day of November 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

Mc COY M. GIBSON JR. Attesting Officer 7 c. MARSHALL DANN Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 (IO-69) USCOMM-DC 6037-P69 us. sovzmmzm raumus OFFICE: 930 

1. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots in its outer conductor such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the coaxial cable and the projections of the center line of any of the slots on a plane parallel to the axis and on said midway plane are finite, a coupling coil installed aboard a moving object on said track and which couples electromagnetically with said coaxial cable, a data processing and controlling device provided on the moving object which receives signals from said coupling coil and controls the moving object by comparing a predetermined location-speed operation curve ascribed to the section of said track over which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object received by way of said coupling coil.
 2. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots in its outer conductor such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the coaxial cable and the projections of the center line of any of said slots on a plane parallel to the axis and said midway plane are finite, said coaxial cable transmitting an electromagnetic current having a wavelength sufficiently long as compared to the slot interval of said coaxial cable, an antenna coil installed aboard a moving object on said track which couples with the alternating magnetic fields produced by the slots of said cable, and a data processing and controlling device provided on said moving object; said data processing and controlling device having means for counting the number of level changes in the signal received by the antenna, means for detecting the location and speed of the moving object from the data of the counter number, means for memorizing a predetermined location-speed operation curve ascribed to each section of said track to be controlled and comparing controlling means which controls the moving object by comparing the location-speed operation curve ascribed to the section of track over which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object.
 3. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the coaxial cable and the projections of the center line of any of the slots on a plane parallel to the axis and said midway plane normal to the axis are finite, a coupling coil installed aboard said moving object and which couples electromagnetically with said coaxial cable, and a data processing and controlling means provided at a central ground station which controls at least one moving object on said track by comparing a location-speed operation curve ascribed to a section of said track on which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object received by way of said coupling coil.
 4. A moving object automatic operation system comprising a coaxial cable installed in parallel to a track of a moving object and having a longitudinal array of slots with a constant slot interval such that adjacent slots are symmetrically reversed with respect to a plane midway between them and normal to the axis of the cable and the projections of the center line of any of the slots on a plane parallel to the axis and said midway plane are finite, said coaxial cable transmitting an electromagnetic current having a wavelength sufficiently long as compared to the slot interval on said coaxial cable, an antenna coil installed aboard a moving object on said track and which couples with the alternating magnetic fields provided by the slots of said cable, a data transmission device connected to said coaxial cable for sending the signal received by said antenna to a central ground station, and a data processing and control device provided at said ground station; said data processing and controlling device having means for counting the number of level changes of the signal received by the antenna, means for detecting location and speed of the moving object from the data of the counted number, means for memorizing a location-speed operation for each section of said track to be controlled and comparing controlling means which controls the moving object by comparing the location-speed operation curve ascribed to the section of track over which said moving object is travelling with the actual data of the location and speed of said moving object. 